FibroSupport - Wales

From October, under new legislation, the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 (𝘗𝘈𝘍𝘌𝘙), the Department for Work and Pensions will have additional powers to recover benefit overpayments.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆:
• 𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠
• 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡-𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑏𝑡𝑠

According to current government information, people who are no longer receiving benefits and owe more than £1,000 to DWP may receive contact regarding repayment.

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭.

Universal Credit can be particularly complex, as current legislation allows overpayments to be recovered even where the overpayment was not caused by the claimant.

Government guidance currently states that people with an existing repayment arrangement in place should not be affected.

𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒂: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/driving-bans-for-those-who-refuse-to-repay-benefit-debts-as-new-dwp-powers-come-into-force

📢 Good news for anyone going through a PIP, ESA or Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment.

From today, all telephone and face-to-face assessments across England and Wales will be automatically recorded by assessment providers.

Previously, recordings had to be requested in advance. Under the new arrangements, assessments will now be recorded automatically unless the claimant chooses to opt out.

This change follows legislation introduced after last year’s Green Paper proposals and represents an important step towards greater transparency, accountability, and confidence throughout the assessment process.

At FibroSupport-Wales, we welcome measures that help ensure claimants feel heard, supported, and treated fairly during assessments.

🔥 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐓 – 𝐀 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐘𝐀𝐋𝐆𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 🔥

Wales is currently under a rare Red Extreme Heat Warning, with temperatures forecast to reach dangerous levels across parts of the country. The Met Office has warned that these conditions pose a risk to everyone, particularly those with underlying health conditions.

𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙮𝙖𝙡𝙜𝙞𝙖, 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜:
☀️ Increased fatigue and exhaustion
☀️ Dizziness and headaches
☀️ Increased pain and muscle discomfort
☀️ Brain fog and concentration difficulties
☀️ Sleep disruption due to hot nights
☀️ Dehydration, which can trigger symptom flare-ups

𝘼𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩-𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙫𝙚:
💧 Drink plenty of water throughout the day
🏠 Stay indoors during the hottest hours where possible
🧊 Use fans, cool packs, and cold flannels to help regulate body temperature
👒 Wear loose, lightweight clothing and stay in the shade
🤝 Check in on friends, family members, and neighbours who may be vulnerable

𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝.

𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.

🌈 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐂𝐲𝐦𝐫𝐮 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 🌈

As Cardiff comes alive this weekend to celebrate Pride Cymru, everyone at FibroSupport-Wales would like to extend our warmest wishes to all those taking part in the celebrations.

Pride is an opportunity to celebrate diversity, inclusion, equality, and the strength of communities coming together. It is a time to recognise and honour the unique experiences, identities, and contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals across Wales and beyond.

At FibroSupport-Wales, we are committed to creating a welcoming, supportive, and inclusive environment for everyone affected by fibromyalgia. We believe that every individual deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and understanding, regardless of their background, identity, or circumstances.

Whether you are attending the parade, supporting friends and family, volunteering, or simply enjoying the atmosphere, we hope you have a safe, enjoyable, and memorable Pride Cymru weekend.

Let's continue to celebrate acceptance, promote kindness, and build communities where everyone feels valued and empowered to be themselves.